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Coaching 'Em Up Or Bullying And Other Stories Of March Madness 2019

The 2019 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament will undoubtedly be remembered for many things.  One of them happened early on the first full day of the tournament.  As Michigan State struggled to put away underdog Bradley, Spartans head coach Tom Izzo started yelling at freshman star Aaron Henry as he approached the bench during a timeout.  Izzo became so heated as he yelled that Spartan players had to restrain him.  The controversy it sparked may have been predictable, bouncing between those who felt it was just old-fashioned hard coaching, and others who saw it as bullying.  Our hosts at the start of this episode seek to put the incident in a greater context and perspective – not just in coaching and college athletics, but our society as a whole.

(Music featured includes Safe As Houses by Daniel Birch)  

Matt Bush joined Blue Ridge Public Radio as news director in August 2016. Excited at the opportunity the build up the news service for both stations as well as help launch BPR News, Matt made the jump to Western North Carolina from Washington D.C. For the 8 years prior to coming to Asheville, he worked at the NPR member station in the nation's capital as a reporter and anchor. Matt primarily covered the state of Maryland, including 6 years of covering the statehouse in Annapolis. Prior to that, he worked at WMAL in Washington and Metro Networks in Pittsburgh, the city he was born and raised in.